JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School and later Jewish Free School) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England, founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlotte Montefiore. At one time it was the largest Jewish school in the world, with more than 4,000 pupils.

History

The school was founded in 1732, sited at Dukes Place in the City of London. It later moved to the East End, then to Camden Town. In 2002 it moved to a new site in Kenton to meet the demand of London's Jewish population moving further out towards the suburbs. The school is within the jurisdiction of the London Borough of Brent, and its postal town is Harrow.

Staff

Headteachers

2021– Dr David Moody 2021 Paul Ramsay (Acting Joint Headteacher)Anna Joseph (Acting Joint Headteacher) 2021 Martin Tissot (Interim Headteacher) 2021 Sir Michael Wilshaw (Executive Headteacher) 2018–2021 Rachel Fink 2018 Simon Appleman (Acting Headteacher) 2016–2017 Debby Lipkin (Executive Headteacher)Simon Appleman (Acting Headteacher) 2008–2016 Jonathan Miller 1993–2007 Dame Ruth Robins 1985–1993 Josephine WagermanLater elected first female president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. 1973–1984 Leslie GatoffJonathan Goldsmith left in 1975 and Gatoff had been there two years by then 1958–1972 Dr Edward S Conway 1897–1907 Louis Barnett Abrahams 1842–1897 Moses Angel 1832–1842 Henry A. Henry

Other staff

Michael Adler taught Hebrew at the school in the late-19th century.

Houses and other traditions JFS operates the house system and has four houses for organisational purposes. Students must wear a tie with stripes in their house colour.

House Named after Colour Angel Moses Angel Red Brodetsky Selig Brodetsky Blue Weizmann Chaim Weizmann Green Zangwill Israel Zangwill Yellow

Both Brodetsky and Zangwill were former students, Angel was a previous and long-serving headmaster and Weizmann, who has several links to the school, was the first President of the State of Israel.

Students are split into their respective houses for most classes in Years 7, 8 and 9 as well as inter-house competitions, such as football and basketball.

A tradition called "muck-up day" involves Year 11 students celebrating the last day of formal schooling before their GCSE examinations with various pranks. In May 2015 this descended into "a near-riot", with more than 300 pupils barred from the campus after a small minority spread foam, eggs, flour and dead chickens around the school. The police were called after some students broke through a security fence and let off fireworks, but no arrests were made.

Academic results In 2007, 53% of the school's attempted GCSE exams received grades of A* or A. In 2012 JFS was at the top of the School League Tables for GCSE in Brent and its A-Level results were the best of all the mainstream Jewish schools.

In 2024 at GCSE level, 95% of students passed both English and Mathematics, and 48% of all grades were a ‘Grade 7’ or above. 30% of all grades were a ‘Grade 8’ or above.

Awards The school won a Wellbeing at School Award in 2021.

Controversy over admissions criteria

In October 2006, a Jewish father made enquiries with the United Synagogue as to whether his son, born to a mother who had been converted to Judaism under the auspices of the Masorti (Conservative) denomination, could convert under Orthodox auspices for entry to JFS in September 2007. He was advised the process could take several years and that such applications to JFS are very rarely successful given that the school is highly oversubscribed. He applied for his son but did not declare to the school's admissions board the mother's conversion history.

By April 2007, he had not supplied JFS with the requested information, and the school advised him that, being oversubscribed that year, it was unlikely his son could be offered a place. He then unsuccessfully appealed for reconsideration of his application.Graham Tibbets, "Boy refused admission to leading Jewish school was 'not victim of racial discrimination'", The Daily Telegraph, 3 July 2008

In July 2008, the father sought to prosecute JFS on the grounds of racial discrimination, but High Court judge, Mr Justice Munby, ruled against him, holding JFS' selection criteria were not intrinsically different from Christian or Islamic faith schools and their being declared illegal could adversely affect "the admission arrangements in a very large number of faith schools of many different faiths and denominations".

The Court of Appeal, however, in June 2009 declared that JFS, under the Race Relations Act 1976, had illegally discriminated against the child on grounds of race. They ruled that the mother's religious status, and thus her child's religious status, had been determined using a racial criterion rather than a religious criterion. The school subsequently issued revised admissions criteria based on religious practice including synagogue attendance, formal Jewish education and volunteering. JFS and the United Synagogue appealed to the Supreme Court, with the support of the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.Simon Rocker, "JFS: What's Next?", Jewish Chronicle, 3 July 2009 On 16 December 2009, the UK Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal's ruling.R(E) v Governing Body of JFS UKSC 15

Alleged 2026 antisemitic incident In March 2026, Norfolk Police initiated a hate-crime investigation following an under-15 football match between JFS and Thorpe St Andrew School in Norwich during the quarterfinal round of a national tournament, in which antisemitic slurs such as "Dirty Jews" and "Go back to the gas chambers" were said to have been shouted from the stands at players by a crowd that consisted primarily of supporters of the Norwich school. "Thorpe St Andrew School face antisemitic abuse questions", Eastern Daily Press, March 9, 2026. Accessed March 15, 2026. "An under-15 team from the Jewish Free School (JFS), in London, were playing in a national cup quarter-final at Thorpe St Andrew School when the shocking scenes unfolded. JFS pupils claim they were told to 'go back to the gas chambers' and were called 'dirty Zionists' by the crowd, which was said to be mostly pupils from the Norfolk school."Burrows, Tom. "Police investigating report of antisemitic hate crime at English school’s under-15 game", The New York Times, March 7, 2026. Accessed March 15, 2026. "Police are investigating following a report of a hate crime during a football match involving Britain’s largest Jewish school in a national tournament.... The alleged incident happened on Thursday, March 5, when they played in an away game in the quarter-final stage of the English School's under-15 competition against Thorpe St Andrew School, based in Norwich.... They shouted throughout the game. They were saying 'go back to the gas chambers', 'dirty Jew' and 'Zionist', she claimed." Later the same month, the police reported that they had not been able to verify the allegations, and were not taking further action.

Notable former pupils

Barney Barnato (1851–1897) – RandlordStephen Inwood (2005). City of cities: The birth of modern London. London: Pan Books. p. 33. Gina Bellman (born 1966) – actressInterview: Gina Bellman, The Jewish Chronicle, 17 January 2014 Raphael Benjamin (1846–1906) – rabbi in Australia and America Eyal Booker (born 1995) – Love Island contestant Selig Brodetsky (1888–1954) – mathematician, Zionist leader, and president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Benjamin Cohen (born 1982), journalist and Channel 4 News presenter Two-Gun Cohen (1887–1970) – British and Canadian adventurer who became aide-de-camp to Sun Yat-sen and a major-general in the Chinese National Revolutionary ArmySherer, Cyril. "General Morris (2 Gun) Cohen, a personal recollection by his cousin Dr Cyril Sherer", Jewish East End of London. Accessed March 15, 2026. "Enrolled at Jews Free School, he played truant. By the time he was ten he was a petty thief, pickpocket, even a prize-fighter under the name of “Cockney Cohen” which is where he got his broken nose." Dean Furman (born 1988) – professional footballerSilver, Craig. "Furman’s flying for Smith and McCoist", The Jewish Chronicle, April 24, 2008. Accessed March 15, 2026. "Born in Cape Town, Furman grew up in Edgware, Middlesex, and was a JFS schoolfriend of Maccabi Herzliya starlet Josh Kennet." Maurice Glasman (born 1961), academic, social thinker and Labour life peerFreedland, Michael. "Interview: Maurice Glasman", The Jewish Chronicle, June 30, 2011. Accessed March 15, 2026. "This is still the honeymoon period for the JFS old boy who is enjoying the novelty of having been in Ed Miliband's first list of peerages." Jonathan Glazer – BAFTA and Oscar award-winning film director Iddo Goldberg – actor best known for playing Freddie Thorne in Peaky Blinders Samuel Gompers – first president of the American Federation of LaborSinger, Saul Jay. "The Jewishness And Zionism Of Samuel Gompers", The Jewish Press, August 17, 2022. Accessed March 15, 2026. "Gompers attended the Jewish Free School on Bell Lane, where he was an excellent student, but his formal secular education ended at age 10 when his financially distressed father removed him from school to serve as an apprentice to a shoemaker." Ray Kelvin – founder of luxury clothing retail company Ted Baker

Josh Kennet (born 1987) – English-Israeli footballer David Joseph – chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK Bernard Lewis – founder and owner, River Island Joe Loss – musician Ofra Offer Oren – Israeli writer, poet, blogger and translator Steven Reingold – cricketer Barbara Roche – Labour politician Dan Rothman – guitarist for London Grammar Joel Samuels – DJ, associated with DJ Luck & MC Neat Jez San – game designer, Argonaut Games Florence Schechter – founder of Vagina Museum and author Ian Stone – comedian Annie Henrietta Yorke – temperance reformer, philanthropist and author

Israel Zangwill

References

Further reading Black, Gerry (1998). A history of the Jews' Free School, London, since 1732. Tymsder Publishing .

External links Official website OFSTED Report